McGill-Toolen’s Shemar Welch won all three jumping events Friday to lead the Yellow Jackets to their first AHSAA state boys indoor track title at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Welch won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 7 inches, the long jump at 21-11 and the triple jump at 45-7 at the 53rd annual 2023 AHSAA State Indoor Track and Field Championships. Mountain Brook took home the girls 6A title, the first for the Spartans since 2019.

In the 1A/3A division, Altamont’s girls and Cold Springs’ boys won their first state titles in school history. Cold Springs ran away with the boys title, but Altamont’s girls scored 69 team points to edge Houston Academy, which had 68.6, in one of the closest finishes in AHSAA indoor track.

The Class 1A/3A and Class 6A state championships concluded Friday with the Class 7A and Class 4A/5A divisions set to compete.

The meet started with the 800-meter run Friday morning, however, with the strong field in the 1A/3A boys’ 800 and the Class 6A boys’ 800, it looked more like the 60-meter dash at the finish line.

St. Luke’s Episcopal senior Andrew Burchett, Cold Springs’ Ethan Edgeworth, and Trinity Presbyterian’s Matthew Blake finished the 1A/3A race separated by just 1.49 seconds – with Burchett winning with a new Class 1A/3A state-record time of 1:56.40. Edgeworth, a junior, was second at 1:56.70 to also beat the previous state record of 1:57.61 set by Noah Karr of American Christian at the 2016 state meet. Blake, also a junior, was just 29/100ths of a second shy of besting Karr’s record as well with a 1:57.989 time to take third place.

St. Luke’s Burchett also won the 400-meter dash with a 51.22 finish later Friday.

The Class 6A boys’ 800 was just as exciting with UMS-Wright junior Charles Perry holding off senior Evan Wrights of St. Paul’s and Homewood senior Ben Murray by just 58/100ths of a second. Perry won with a 1:54.20 finish, Wrights was second at 1:54.56 and Murray took third place with at 1:54.78.

Edgeworth rebounded by winning the 1,600-meter race and set a new Class 1A/3A record in the process. His 4.14.55 time edged out Cullman County friend and rival Ethan Lemons of Vinemont, who clocked 4:15.78 to also break the previous record. The senior bested his own record (4:20.99) set at the 2022 state championships.

Edgeworth also won the 3,200 meters in 9:22.31.

The AHSAA indoor state championships are being live streamed over the NFHS Network subscriber-based platform by the Central-Phenix City High School NFHS Network School Broadcast Program.

Records continued to be set a steady pace Friday in Class 6A and Class 1A/3A.

– Calera senior Braylyn Farrington won the 400-meter dash in the 6A meet at 47.94 to break the state indoor mark (48.11) set by Hoover’s Marlon Humphrey in 2013. Saraland’s Ryan Williams finished second to Farrington with a 49.43 time.

Farrington had the best the 60-meter dash time (6.96) in the prelims, but Clay-Chalkville junior Jaylen Mbakwe, who qualified second for the finals with a 6.99 time, won the gold clocking 6.84 in the finals – just 4/100ths of a second off the AHSAA 6A indoor state meet record. Saraland’s Williams took second place at 6.92 and Farrington was third at 6.97.

– Junior Harley McNeal of Northridge set a 6A indoor state meet record in the girls’ 400-meter dash, finishing at 55.78 to eclipse the old record (56.18) set by Hoover’s Joy Maneice-Marbury at the 2012 state meet.

– Homewood pole vaulter Brooke Walden established a record in the girls’ 6A pole vault with a winning height of 12 feet, 3 inches – breaking the old record (12-01.75) she set in 2022.

– Saraland’s Morgan Davis broke her own CrossPlex record in the Class 6A long jump (19-03.75) set earlier this season with a state record leap of 19-05 to win the event Friday. That effort broke the 6A indoor state meet record (18-07.25) set by Toyin Augustus of Grissom 25 years earlier in 1997 and is now the all-time mark for indoor track in the AHSAA.

St. Paul’s Episcopal triple jumper Janie Ford, a sophomore, won the 6A shot put championship with a winning throw of 39 feet, 4 ½ inches – only 12 inches shy of the state indoor 6A record of 40-04 ¾ set by Spain Park’s Simone Charley in 2013.

Davis, Saraland’s outstanding senior sprinter, had the top time in the Class 6A indoor girls’ 60-meter dash prelims at 7.56 seconds and won the finals with a personal-best 7.53 time – also just 4/100ths of a second off the 6A indoor girls’ record (7.49) established by Woodlawn’s Jayla Kirkland in 2014.

Friday’s full results are available on the AHSAA website at this link.

Here all of the individual winners and top five team scores in each classification from Friday’s championship action:

CLASS 6A

GIRLS

60 meters: Morgan Davis, Saraland, 7.53

400 meters: Harley McNeal, Northridge, 55.78

800 meters: Lucy Benton, Mountain Brook, 2:13.88

1,600 meters: Reagan Riley, Mountain Brook, 5:06.81

3,200 meters: Mary Mac Collins, Northridge, 10:50.81

60-meter hurdles: Reah DeFraffenried, Shades Valley, 8.86

4×200-meter relay: Saraland, 1:44.33

4×400-meter relay: Mountain Brook, 4:05.33

4×800-meter relay: Mountain Brook, 9:45.42

High jump: Aniya Johnson, Clay-Chalkville, 5 feet, 4 inches

Long jump: Morgan Davis, Saraland, 19 feet, 5 inches

Triple jump: Janie Ford, St. Paul’s Episcopal, 39 feet, 4 ½ inches

Shot put: Jade Connor, Northridge, 36 feet, 6 inches

Pole vault: Brooke Walden, Homewood, 12 feet, 3 inches

Team: Mountain Brook 77, Northridge 64.5, Homewood 61.75, St. Paul’s Episcopal 55.5, Saraland 41.

BOYS

60 meters: Jaylen Mbakwe, Clay-Chalkville, 6.84

400 meters: Braylyn Farrington, Calera, 47.94

800 meters: Charles Perry, UMS-Wright, 1:54.20

1,600 meters: Stone Smith, St. Paul’s Episcopal, 4:16.09

3,200 meters: Stone Smith, St. Paul’s Episcopal, 9:18.52

60-meter hurdles: Jayshon Ridgle, Athens, 8.12 (PR)

4×200-meter relay: Calera, 1:30.02

4×400-meter relay: Calera, 3:24.28

4×800-meter relay: Homewood, 8:01.90

High jump: Shemar Welch, McGill-Toolen Catholic, 6 feet, 7 inches

Long jump: Shemar Welch, McGill-Toolen Catholic, 21 feet, 11 inches

Triple jump: Shemar Welch, McGill-Toolen, 45 feet 7 inches

Shot put: Patrick Adcock, Cullman, 49 feet, 6½ inches

Pole vault: Joshua Holston, UMS-Wright, 14 feet, PR

Team: McGill-Toolen 85, Homewood 66, Mountain Brook 54, St. Paul’s Episcopal 37, Calera 36.

CLASS 1A/3A

GIRLS

60 meters: Amiyah Johnson, Sulligent, 7.87

400 meters: Macauley Flanagan, Houston Academy, 1:00.06

800 meters: Elise Picard, Indian Springs, 2:25.88

1,600 meters: Elise Picard, Indian Springs, 5:26.31

3,200 meters: Elise Picard, Indian Springs, 11:47.14

60-meter hurdles: Sierra Stevenson, Fayette County, 10.49

4×200-meter relay: Houston Academy, 1:51.46

4×400-meter relay: Houston Academy, 4:20.51

4×800-meter relay: Altamont, 10:44.63

High jump: Layla Hanvy, Decatur Heritage, 5 feet

Long jump: Estella Connell, Donoho, 15 feet, 7¾ inches

Triple jump: Genie McGhee, Decatur Heritage, 34 feet 11¼ inches

Shot put: Isabella Johnson, Montgomery Academy, 34 feet

Pole vault: Merritt Fulmer, Altamont, 10 feet

Team: Altamont 69, Houston Academy 68.6, Indian Springs 44, Fayette County 43.6, Decatur Heritage 38.

BOYS

60 meters: Karl Parham, Tanner, 7.14

400 meters: Andrew Burchett, St. Luke’s Episcopal, 51.22

800 meters: Andrew Burchett, St. Luke’s Episcopal, 1:56.40

1,600 meters: Ethan Edgeworth, Cold Springs, 4:14.55

3,200 meters: Ethan Edgeworth, Cold Springs, 9:22.31

60-meter hurdles: Cameron Nunn, Cold Springs, 9.04

4×200-meter relay: Montgomery Academy, 1:36.33

4×400-meter relay: Trinity Presbyterian, 3:39.71

4×800-meter relay: Trinity Presbyterian, 8:39.18

High jump: Ryder Black, Fayette County, 6 feet, 1 inch

Long jump: Nic Fallin, Cold Springs, 20 feet, 7 inches

Triple jump: Charles Grant, Fayette County, 43 feet, 7 inches

Shot put: Connor Owens, St. James, 47 feet, 3½ inches

Pole vault: Chris Ferguson, Ohatchee, 13 feet, 6 inches

Team: Cold Springs 87, Montgomery Academy 45, Fayette County 42, J.B. Pennington 42, Winfield 40.5.